Putin ‘preparing for war against NATO' after Russia hit by huge mystery gas blast.

A Polish armed forces chief has warned that Vladimir Putin is preparing for war after what an "unprecedented act of sabotage" where a key rail link between Warsaw and Ukraine was blown up

Putin

Putin is preparing for war it is claimed

Russia is preparing for war against NATO, Poland’s top general has warned.

He spoke out as Poland confirmed a key rail link between Warsaw and Ukraine - used for funnelling Western supplies - was blown up in an “unprecedented act of sabotage”.

Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces Wieslaw Kukula warned that Russia “has begun the period of preparing for war. They are building an environment here intended to create conditions favourable for potential aggression on Polish territory.”

A Russian military attack on Poland would trigger a response under NATO’s Article 5 - likely amounting to a Third World War.

Gen Kukula said Russia was currently engaged in “a pre‑war situation — or what we refer to as hybrid warfare.”

He was quoted as saying: “The enemy has begun preparing for war.

“He is creating a certain atmosphere here aimed at undermining public trust in the government, in key structures such as the armed forces and the police, as well as creating conditions favourable to potential aggression on Polish territory.”

Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna warned in Washington that the clock was ticking for Russia’s military machine to directly threaten NATO states.

Vladimir Putin will “return to our Baltic borders with even more troops and military equipment than they had before the full-scale invasion” within “two to three years, or less’, he warned.

The Kremlin dictator’s aims were to “to conquer Ukraine, to dominate its near abroad, to divide the West, and to push the US out of Europe”.

The came as the Russian FSB security service was called in to investigate a massive explosion of a key gas artery in Omsk region, 1,330 miles east of Moscow.

Footage showed the spectacular detonation and mushroom cloud which came during repairs on the gas pipeline at Rostovka, in the suburbs of Omsk city.

A powerful inferno was blazing hours after the explosion, with flames rising 130ft into the sky. It was initially unclear if the cause was accidental or sabotage during repairs.

“The causes are being investigated by law enforcement agencies,” said the regional governor Vitaly Khotsenko who urged residents to “remain calm”. In Ukrainian region Kharkiv, a girl aged 17 died in hospital after sustaining serious injuries in a Russian missile strike on Berestyn. Nine more suffered injuries.

Russia is believed to have targeted a gas plant.The city of Dnipro was rocked by 20 huge explosions, leading to pensioners suffering injuries. In a strike by Ukraine, swathes of the Russian-occupied Donetsk People’s Republic were bathed in darkness for the second day running.

Two thermal power plants - Zuyevskaya, near Zagreb city, and Starobeshevskaya, in Novy Svet - were put out of operation. Electricity and heating supplies to residents were hit, said Putin’s puppet leader Denis Pushilin. The strikes appear as revenge for a succession of Russian attacks on power plants in Ukraine in recent days and weeks.